


Santa's present

by Swen and Chill (anotherouatwriter)



Series: Baby, it's cold outside. [7]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: And Regina is still the Mayor, Emma is still the sheriff, F/F, No Magic AU, No Magic Storybrooke AU, countdown to christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-06 23:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8773273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherouatwriter/pseuds/Swen%20and%20Chill
Summary: In which Henry (6 years) wants to stay up to see Santa and Regina doesn't want to disappoint him so she and Emma plan to 'trick' him.AU - No Magic Storybrooke.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I took the liberty to fitting the Mills Mansion to my needs.

Sheriff Swan was aware for a while now that Madame Mayor has her wrapped around her finger, but she never imagined she would agree to dress up as Santa Claus, climbing up to the garage's roof, and breaking into Henry's room just because the kid believes in Santa and wants to see him.

She had been reluctant at first, but a) she had always have a soft spot for Regina's chocolate eyes, which shone brighter whenever she talked about Henry, and b) she loved making the kid and his mother smile.

Plus, she remembered being that age. She remembered how she had stayed up until Santa came and ate a cookie with her. She later learned that Santa had been her father dressed up, but it was still one of her treasured childhood memories.

And that's how Emma came to wearing her dad's oversized Santa costume, with at least 15 layers of clothing underneath to make her chubbier. She climbed the ladder that Regina had strategically left for her.

Emma prayed to God to not let her to fall, because the roof was slippery and the bag filled with Henry's presents, just in case Henry asked to look into the bag, was definitely not helping with her equilibrium.

She definitely deserved a raise after this, even though she was not on call. She was doing this more as a favor to Regina than following an order given to her by the Mayor. If she was being completely honest with herself, she was doing this because she was utterly in love with Regina Mills.

Thanking God when she reached the window, Emma slid the window upwards and pushed the bag in first, which landed on the floor with a loud thump. She almost let out an 'Aww' when she heard Henry gasp and whisper, "Santa, is that you?"

"What do we have here?" Emma asked in a coarse voice, "A child out of bed! You should be sleeping, Henry."

"I wanted to see you, Santa!" He jumped from his bed and ran towards him, "My friend, Nicholas says I'm stupid for believing in Santa."

 _Nicholas is stupid_ , she wanted to say in a childish way. But Emma opted to hold that in so she knelt to be closer to his height, "Henry, people who say you are stupid are just scared because you are so much more intelligent than them."

"You think so?" he asked shyly.

"I know so!" Emma poked his belly, "Now, how about you go to bed and I go down stairs to leave all these presents for you?"

"Alright," the child agreed as he walked towards his bed. "Will you stay for a little bit longer?" he asked, "I want to ask you something special."

Emma didn't verbalize a response, but she took Henry's chair and sat next to the boy's bed.

"It's about my mother."

"What about her?" Emma asked, even though she knew she shouldn't.

"She's lonely. She has me, but sometimes I feel she needs another grown-up to do gross things, like holding hands and kissing."

"So you want your mother to have a _boyfriend_?" The last words broke her heart a bit.

"Or a girlfriend," Henry yawned, "I like Emma. And she makes my mom happy. Do you think Emma would like to hold hands and kiss my mom?"

"I don't know, Henry." Liar. You just lied to a kid. "And even though I can't make people fall in love, I'll see if I can help."

Henry nodded, but his eyes were almost closed, "Good night, Santa."

"Night, little man," she said before checking if he was really asleep.

Then, she took the bag of gifts and walked out of Henry's room and towards the living room. Regina hadn't told her what to do with the presents but she figured she could finish her job as Santa.

Emma was unpacking and placing the presents next to the tree when she noticed a perfectly wrapped box with her name on it. She took it into her hands, wondering what it could be. It was a square box, about four inches wide. It wasn't too heavy and it didn't have any particular smell. Determined to figure out more about the present, she shook it to see if it made a sound.

"Thank goodness I didn't get you a crystal figurine," a voice startled her and she dropped the box. Regina chuckled, "Or anything that can be easily broken for that matter."

"Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Emma protested with a hand over her chest, feeling her heart beating like crazy.

Regina was standing by the stairs, wearing a bath robe and no make up. And, even like that she looked flawless.

"If something will give you a heart attack it's those bear claws you insist on having every day," the brunette argued as she walked towards Emma.

"The day a bear claw creeps on me the way you just did, I'll be more inclined to agree with you."

Regina hummed, but Emma had an inkling that the mayor didn't quite agree with her. "I was going to wait until tomorrow, but you can open it now."

"The Regina Mills is letting me break some rules and open a present before Christmas Day?" Emma pretended to be shocked, "Today must be my lucky day!"

"Just open the present, Sheriff."

"Even when you're giving me a present, you're giving me orders," she rolled her eyes as she unwrapped the present and opened the small box.

Inside, there was a tin of mints. She took it out of the box. Granted, it was her favorite brand but Regina got her mints every other week because she said that Emma's breath stank after drinking coffee or having lunch.

With her brows furrowed, she looked at Regina and asked, "Is this another way of telling me my breath sucks? Because I started brushing my teeth after lunch, too." she added, and yes, Regina had her totally wipped.

Regina ignored her and said with a smile, "Open it, you idiot."

Emma did as instructed, which was nothing new, and opened the mint box, inside it was the usual amount of mints, plus a small note which was taped to the lid. It read, 'Will you be my date for New Year's?'

"Really?" she asked in a whisper, barely holding in her happiness.

"Yes, really."

Emma closed the mint box and dropped everything she had on her hands on the coffee table before taking Regina's cheeks into her hands and saying, "I'd love to," before leaning in to kiss her for the very first time.

The kiss was short but sweet, and even after she broke away from Regina, she kept her hands on Regina's face, caressing the brunette's cheeks. She giggled before saying, "Today is my lucky day after all," and leaned in for another kiss.

Many years later, when Henry grew up and learned the truth, he realized that maybe Santa didn't exist, but he _did_ bring his mom and Emma together.


End file.
